New Design Miscanthus Fountain

July 6, 2014 | Time: | Location: | Category: General

New Design - Miscanthus Fountain

This Fountain is a commission from clients who want a fountain that would make a strong visual impact and an impressive sound. It is to be in a large garden with splendid views, but some traffic noise from a distant road. With most of my designs, I keep the water falling or dripping within the solid shape of the fountain. This is ideal for intimate areas, where gentle and subtle sounds are best. However in the present case I wanted the water to be projected quite high into the air, so that it would make a strong sound as it fell into the pond below. I have based the design on a clump of tall Miscanthus grasses, because these have splendid strong stems, which curve outward as they rise. Each has a flowering head at the top, from which I can project the water. They also have many delicate long leaves which bind the shape together, both aesthetically and structurally.The accompanying sketch shows the concept design. There there are 13 stems, which are jointed like bamboos, so they get thinner as they go up. They are fed with water at three different pressures. The centre stems project the water highest, it curves over and and it falls closest to the body of the fountain. The outer ones rise less high and curve over more. The fountain is now made, tested and installed on site. Photos of running can be seen in the Main Fountain Gallery and Recent Fountain Designs.